Arsenal are looking at former club captain Mikel Arteta as the man to replace Arsene Wenger at the end of his current contract at the Emirates.

The Frenchman has a contract to manage the club until the end of next season, and could well press for an extension after over two decades in north London, but the Telegraph report that the Gunners are finally putting long-term plans in place to manage the departure of the 68-year-old; who is the third oldest manager in England's top four divisions.

Arteta is currently a co-assistant manager at Manchester City under Pep Guardiola, having turned down the chance to work under Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham, and the newspaper report that the 35-year-old is seen as a viable option to replace Wenger after another season and a half learning under Guardiola.

The Spaniard hit the headlines this month after leaving Old Trafford with a cut on his head following the now-infamous 'Milk Melee', but Guardiola has recently praised his work behind the scenes - particularly with regards to the form of Raheem Sterling.

Speaking back in November, he said: “Mikel Arteta is working many, many days after training sessions for the last action, for the control in the last moment."

If they were to appoint Arteta (and in the admittedly unlikely scenario that no club in England's top four leagues changed their managers or got relegated from League Two in the next 18 months), Arsenal would go from having the third oldest manager in the 92 to the third youngest - only Kevin Nolan and Darren Sarll at Notts County and Stevenage younger than the former Everton man.

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